Connie handed me a box of donuts, opened the door, and we stepped inside.
“Begin by having a donut,” Connie said. “Start with the good stuff.”
I put the box on her desk and took a donut. “Any other ideas?”
“If it’s the treasure you’re actually interested in, ask yourself, what would Indy do?” Connie said.
“Indy always comes through. Me not so much.”
“Indy has what you have, perseverance,” Connie said. “Most of the time you don’t know what the heck you’re doing, but you stick with it, and eventually you get lucky.”
“I haven’t got a lot of time to get lucky on this. Salgusta and Shine are also after the treasure, and they have two extra clues that I don’t have.”
“Shine has been like the invisible man,” Connie said. “Everyone knows he’s here, but no one has seen him. And with good reason, he’s being invisible. There’s an outstanding warrant on him for tax evasion, among other things. Plus, he’s now a murder suspect. Salgusta keeps circling back to the Mole Hole. Never stays long. No pattern to his visits. Have either of them made a move on Grandma?”
“You mean since they kidnapped us a while back, and we escaped? No.”
“That kidnapping had to have been horrible.”
I nodded.
Horrible didn’t begin to describe it. It was terrifying, and I still had an occasional nightmare about it.
“Any ideas about where these guys are staying?” I asked Connie.
“No, but Shine likes the ladies. Last time he was hooked up with a pro. Lula might be some help there. Salgusta pretty much creeps out everyone. I don’t know who would harbor him. Especially since he’s also a suspect for the murder you witnessed.”
“Can you get me information on recent credit card use? It might lead me to a neighborhood.”
“You want me to hack into his accounts?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay,” Connie said. “Not a lot going on here. I have some extra time. You’ll visit me in jail, right?”
“I’ll bring you lasagna on visiting day.”
The front door banged open and Lula swung in. “What’s going on here?” she said. “Did I miss something? Did Stephanie eat the Boston creme donut?”
“No,” I said. “I ate a maple glazed and a jelly donut. I left the Boston creme for you.”
“I appreciate it,” Lula said, “but that’s worrisome. First one here always gets the Boston creme. What’s up?”
“I wasn’t in a Boston creme mood,” I said. “I have a lot on my mind.”
Lula took the Boston creme. “Like what?”
“I need to find Lou Salgusta and Charlie Shine.”
“Good luck with that one,” Lula said. “Last time we tried to catch Salgusta we almost got roasted. I’m not going after him no more. And I’m not going into that tunnel again, either.”
“Okay,” I said, “but we could look for Charlie Shine. Connie thinks he might be shopping around for a new girlfriend. Do you still have friends on the street?”
“I know a couple of the older girls, but it’s been a while since I was a professional satisfier,” Lula said. “Still, I guess we could ask around tonight.”
I looked at Connie. “Do you have anything else?”
“He’s not with his wife in the Burg,” Connie said. “That’s definite. I’m thinking he’s hanging somewhere close, but not in Trenton.”
“Unless he’s with a new honey,” Lula said.
Connie and I nodded agreement.
“So, what are we gonna do now?” Lula asked
“We can look in on Rugalowski and Trotter,” I said.
“I’m not excited about that,” Lula said. “I don’t like them. I especially don’t like Arnold Rugalowski and his stupid nuts.”
“We’re going to try Rugalowski at home this time,” I said. “I’m hoping he’ll be more receptive to getting re-bonded.”
“He don’t look like he even got a home,” Lula said. “He looks like he lives in his ten-year-old Chevy Nova. I’m guessing the ex-wife got the home.”
I pulled his file out of my bag. “He gives a home address of 43 South Clinton Street.”
Lula tapped it into her phone. “That’s a weird address,” she said. “It don’t look like there’s any houses. It’s only got a cemetery on one side and some government offices on the other.”
I looked over at Connie.
“I didn’t write the bond,” Connie said. “Vinnie wrote the bond.”
“Is Vinnie coming in today?” I asked.
“Vinnie is in Vegas,” Connie said. “Poker tournament.”
I hiked my messenger bag higher onto my shoulder. “Let’s see if there’s a ten-year-old Chevy Nova parked on South Clinton.”
“I guess I could go along with that,” Lula said.
I drove a short distance down Hamilton Avenue, turned onto South Clinton, crossed over the railroad tracks, and followed Clinton to the cemetery. There were some cars parked at the curb alongside the cemetery, but none of them looked like they were home to a fry cook.
“He could be camped out inside,” Lula said. “This is a cozy cemetery. It’s got lots of trees, and I can see from here that they keep the grounds nice.”
I parked behind one of the cars.
“Hold on here,” Lula said. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to walk around and see if he’s camped out behind a tombstone.”
“I’d just as leave stay here, thank you. Cemeteries bring me down. And on top of that I’m not looking forward to seeing the roach cooker. I got a bad feeling about him.”
“Okay,” I said. “You stay here and guard the car while I prowl around the cemetery. Make sure the roach cooker doesn’t car-jack us.”
“You didn’t believe in my nipple radar, either, and look where that got us,” Lula said.
I left Lula in the car, found the entrance gate, and meandered around, following paths, listening for activity. I walked up a small hill and saw a solitary figure on the other side. It was a slim woman dressed in black. She was very still, staring at a headstone on a relatively new grave. It was Gabriela. She turned as I crested the hill and glanced my way. She did a small nod of acknowledgment and returned her attention to the simple granite marker.
I walked downhill and joined her. The name on the headstone was Julius Roman. He’d been one of the six La-Z-Boys. He’d recently been killed execution-style and one of the clues in the Mole Hole safe had been his.
“A relative?” I asked Gabriela.
“No,” she said. “And you?”
“No.”
“But you knew him.”
“We met shortly before he died,” I said.
“I understand he was killed. Gunshot. Deliberate.”
I nodded. “Yes. Was he a close friend?”
“No,” she said.
“Are you here looking for someone who knew Julius or are you looking for something else?”
“Just looking.”